The Mirage

Ch. 1 "What's a day off?"

The ringing of her phone startled her awake. She answered before the three year old boy next to her woke up. She started to walk to the bathroom as she answered the phone.

"Gemma I need you to be at the house you flipped in forty five minutes. Mia and I will take Luca. Renzo's man Nico will be there so make sure your gun isn't visible." The line went silent. Gemma's uncle Leo owned reality and she worked for him. 'So much for a day off' she thought. For the month she had been there she only sold one house and was busy remodeling the rest.

Gemma woke up her brother and told him to get ready for his uncles. Gemma got dressed as well. She threw on a pair on jeans from the laundry basket and striped button down from the closet. She pulled the revolver from the top shelf in the closet, it was her grandmothers. She placed it in between her large breasts. Gemma's tall body and wide shoulders suited her well. The mid length brown wavy hair needed to be pulled up so no one could tell it was unwashed. She braided the front and pulled int into a ponytail as she walked away from the mirror. Into the bathroom she saw a mismatched child brushing his teeth. She shook her head at Luca's choice of clothing and brushed her teeth as well. "You pretty mommy." He said as he walked out. Gemma raised him from the time of birth. He really thought she was his mom, she could never tell him their mom was dead.

Rushing into the kitchen she pulled a piece of bread from the loaf. Luca loved plain white bread. Pulling her purse over her shoulder she picked up Luca and a pair of flat black shoes. Gemma locked the two deadbolts to the house and set Luca in the rusty blue pickup. She never would have thought this old truck would bring her more than half way across the country.

Gemma arrived at her uncles and traded Luca for the binder.

"I'm sorry. It's your off day but I can't handle Renzo's men."

"It's fine Leo. You have done more than enough for Luca and I." Gemma returned as she hopped into the truck and threw it into reverse.

Ten minutes later she arrived and the giant gated house that stood alone. Gemma knew Nico would like the house, secluded and gated what more could a man in the mob want. She slid out from the truck and walked over to the SUV parked in front of the driveway. A tall muscular man with bronzed skin and dark hair stepped out of the car.

"Hello I'm Gemma Marino." She smiled and held her hand out.

"Nico Faraci." The booming voice said and took her hand.

"Nice to meet you. So this house is a two-story house with five bedroom, five bath, five thousand square feet, and listed at seventy nine hundred. This is a very large lot with a high powered electric gate around the perimeter." Gemma said with confidence unlocking the gate and then the house. Nico was not looking at the house as they walked in - he was looking at Gemma. He had never been in the presence of a woman who did not fear him. No woman he met was ever as confident as Gemma was. He looked into her milky brown eyes to see if she was as genuinely happy and her smile lead people to believe. Her eyes were lit up like a child seeing ice cream. She was not fake. He admired her clean face that had light freckles running under her eyes. 'She must have not had to wear makeup with skin as glowing as hers' he thought. He shook his head in thought. Why did he care about this woman and if she wore makeup.

Gemma continued to walk until completely in the middle of the living room. "You can go ahead and look around the house. Keep in mind that it will not be completely finished until Monday. I will be in the kitchen whenever you're ready."

Nico walked up the stairs as Gemma sat down at the stool in front of the counter bar. She leaned forward over the open binder and looked at all the homes her uncle has sold and the few things she wanted to finish this house with. Eventually Nico walked into the kitchen across from her. She looked up and smiled, then he pulled out a gun from the back of his pants. She gave a questionable look but was not scared, she's looked down the barrel of a loaded gun before.

"Is there something wrong Mr. Faraci?"